The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Christopher Mitchelmore, Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation:

Welcoming Athletes, Fans and Volunteers to the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome athletes, fans, organizers and volunteers to St. John’s for the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier.

The Brier is one of Canada’s oldest and most well-known sporting championships. Starting last week with pre-qualifying, this year’s tournament has attracted fans from coast to coast to coast, and has evolved into a television spectacle, drawing viewers from all around the world.

This is the second time Newfoundland and Labrador has hosted the Brier, and our government is honoured to invest $300,000 in support of one of our country’s premier events. This is an exciting opportunity to showcase our province, and our love of curling to a national and international audience.

Mr. Speaker, a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes work goes into a sporting event of this magnitude. I applaud the numerous organizers and volunteers for their vision, dedication and hard-work, to make the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier a great success.

I would also like to wish Team Gushue, this year’s provincial representatives, the best of luck on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. They have done our province proud on the world stage, and they continue to make us proud as they compete at the Bier here on home ice. To date, there has only been one team from our province to win the national championship, Jack MacDuff’s group which won in 1976.

Mr. Speaker, I wish all our visitors a wonderful experience while here in St. John’s, and I hope they take the time in between games to explore everything the capital city and the region has to offer.

I invite all Honourable members to join me in congratulating the athletes, fans, organizers and volunteers on a high-quality, world-class event occurring here in our province.